Now that Berry has coined the phrase "unremittingly bleak", it can be the basis for a grading system for any show. Why, you ask, do we need one ? Because now we have the mechanism to create one.

How will it work ? Let's use the standard method of 1 through 10 where 1 is the least bleak and 10 is the most bleak. At the moment we can use last night's Walking Dead as an example of a 10. Those people can't catch a break.

So what would a 1 look like ? I can't cite a specific program but generally it would be one where the actors gambol through a sunny meadow, cute bunnies cavorting at their feet while birdies weave a crown of flowers around their heads.

Of course when we get into the mid-range of grading such as 4-7 there can be subtle differences making it harder to assign a rank. For example when Bones finds a couple decomposing in a cave, and Castle finds a body boarded up in a wall for 50 years, how would we rank these? Comedic turns in the plot/dialog, a staple of both shows makes it even harder to rank. Do we grade on the overall "tone" of the show or just specifically on those scenes where the decomposing bodies are bagged and tagged ?

I haven't solved this conundrum just yet but I'm working on it. Perhaps a two-number system is the answer in these subtle situations. One for the "tone", one for the bagging.

Meanwhile The Walking Dead presents no such ambiguities, predictably remaining a 10, for which we can all be thankful.

Using the system for the first time we can grade Once Upon a Time as a 3 and Grimm as a 7 based on just two episodes. I doubt that OUAT will ever rise above a 3 but Grimm may sink lower much to its detriment.

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